FT Tech News 02: Google's Airtag tracker | Sony to block piracy apps on TVs | Samsung plans for One UI 5.1 rollout | Customizable lock screen feature for Android | Android to have wireless charging | Bill Gates prefers Android over iPhone
This is the Follow Trendings Tech News number 2. Without taking much of your time let’s get to the hot news.
Google is developing its own version of Apple’s Airtag Tracker to compete with Apple
Apple started making wireless trackers even before anyone else was paying attention to them. Apple named them Airtags. Now wireless trackers are not new things today. Companies like Tile have been manufacturing these kinds of products for years now and Samsung released their own SmartTags to join the fun. Now Google has joined the race as well. Mishaal Rahman, an Android specialist, shared on Twitter that he found a brand-new "locator tag" product type in Google's Fast Pair developer console. He suggested it is a Bluetooth tracker and will be something like Tile and Airtag. The name of this could be “Finder Network”. The Fast Pair developer console added "Locator tag" as a device type👀 "Locator tag" likely refers to Bluetooth trackers (think AirTag, Tile) that in this context support Google Fast Pair. H/T @Za_Raczke pic.twitter.com/HoPX8JMd8Q— Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) January 16, 2023 According to Kuba Wojciechowski, a developer and leaker said that the code name of this is “Grogu”. He also said both BLE and the more tracker-friendly UWB would be supported and also would come in a variety of colors and have a tiny internal speaker that would probably just beep notifications. Google is working on a smart tracker similar to Apple's AirTag, codename "grogu" - report 🧵👇 pic.twitter.com/8K6KO7tfzj— Kuba Wojciechowski⚡ (@Za_Raczke) January 16, 2023
Sony's new technology could block piracy applications on smart televisions and streaming devices
According to AndroidAuthority, it is said that Sony has filed a patent application that is capable of blocking piracy apps on televisions and streaming devices. It is still not clear whether it will be for android TVs or other TVs.
Sony TV This application will contain a blocking list of all the known pirated network resources like URLs and IP addresses. On the basis of this list, it will block piracy applications. Blocking means it will block it completely so the piracy app won’t open in the first place, or it will degrade the audio and video quality, or it will cause the app to crash and shut down at irregular intervals. This is just a patent and concept for now. It is unsure whether it will be made available to the public.
Samsung is getting ready to roll out One UI 5.1
Samsung is a South Korean company. It is one of the most popular and trusted mobile manufacturing companies in the world. It does not just give the best phones but also leads in providing software updates to phones. One of their phones' most liked features by people is their software One UI. Like iPhone has iOS, Samsung has One UI. Samsung has announced the public rollout of their next big software releases One UI 5.1.
Samsung will release it alongside the Samsung Galaxy S23 series early in February. Like always, the software update release will be in batches. Every Samsung flagship phones released since the Galaxy S20 series and Galaxy Z Flip are the first in the lineup to receive the OTA update. Slowly it will be made available to other budget-affordable smartphones as well. Also Read: Android Phones Will Soon Be Expensive in India? Google Refused to Pay Fine Let’s see the list of the Samsung phones which are first in the lineup to get the update: - Galaxy S20 Series - Galaxy S21 Series - Galaxy S22 Series - Galaxy Z Flip - Galaxy Z Flip 5G - Galaxy Z Fold 2 - Galaxy Z Flip 3 - Galaxy Z Fold 3 - Galaxy Z Fold 4 - Galaxy Z Flip 4
Android's new feature could make the lock screen more customizable
According to 9to5google, soon lock screen will be more customizable. These personalized shortcuts feature may come in Pixel devices first with Android 13 version QPR2. As these are unannounced features, so maybe it may not come to other devices with minor software releases. It is possible that Google might delay this update and rollout along with Android 14. 1) Lock screen shortcut customization. There'll be a new "Shortcuts" option in Wallpaper & style and Settings > Display > Lock screen that will let you customize the shortcuts on the lock screen. https://t.co/naP8Rjsg9J— Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) January 13, 2023
Android soon will come with a wireless charging system like iPhone
Currently, iPhone wireless charging system is considered the best, most efficient, and most stable even though the charging capacity is limited to 15W. The wireless charging system that iPhone uses is called Magsafe and it is exclusive to iPhone only. In the Magsafe charging system, an external battery is attached magnetically to the back of the phone. There are two charging standards Qi1 and Qi2. Qi2 is recently announced by the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC). Qi2 is the improved and advanced version of Qi1. WPC also said that Qi2 has greater efficiency and interoperability along with faster charging speed in some devices. Samsung and Apple have already started working on devices that will be compatible with the Qi2 standard. It is another thing that the specifications of the standard are yet to be finalized which will happen mid-year. Qi2 will not have the same model of magnets that were used in Apple’s Magsafe so it is quite uncertain that current MagSafe iPhones will support the Qi2 standard chargers. Also Read: FT Tech News 01: Intel’s most powerful processor | Twitter Data Leak Reply and Office Rent | Google Chrome Vulnerability | Microsoft’s Investment In ChatGPT | Google’s Software Developer Kit (SDK) | Microsoft’s VALL-E Project
Bill Gates prefer Android over iPhone
In a recent Ask Me Anything (AMA) session on Reddit, Bill Gates revealed he likes using Android phones and hasn’t switched to iPhone, MAC, iPad, or even his own Microsoft Surface Duo.
Bill Gates Source: Google He also revealed about his smartphone. He currently uses Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 which is personally given by Samsung’s Chairman JY Lee. Before this, he used Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 and he collected this phone by himself when he visited JY Lee in South Korea. This does not mean that he uses only Android phones. He also keeps an iPhone on the other hand but for testing purposes. Coming to daily use, his preference is Android as his primary phone. He also explained the reason for the android being his preference that Android manufacturers are more flexible considering Microsoft software integrations. This makes Android phones come preinstalled with Microsoft apps which kind of makes things easier for Bill Gates. The availability of Microsoft apps on iPhones is not that high. Read the full article